1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to self-closing dispenser caps for brief access to a chemical in a bottle by dipping into the bottle through the cap with a swab.
2. Description of Prior Art
Industrial workstations often have small bottles of chemicals that are usually left uncapped during operations. These chemicals are typically used with long cotton swabs for cleaning, etching, cementing, and coating during assembly, fabrication, or repairs. Such chemicals have volatile ingredients that can vaporize and pollute the work environment. New environmental laws require even small containers to be capped. Substantial fines are imposed for a first offense, and daily for repeat offenses. However, the average operator does not keep replacing bottle caps, due to inconvenience and lost productivity, so the problem has been previously unsolvable.
Prior self-closing containers use a pivot axis parallel to the ground plane. This causes the cover to open by either going into the container or raising above the container. If the cover goes into the container, the container can only be partially filled, or the cover will be immersed in the contents of the container. If the cover is raised above the container, and returns by gravity, it must be latched open or awkwardly held by some other means during use. All prior devices known to the inventor have a pivot axis in a plane parallel to the opening surface. Examples of prior self-closing containers are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,996,845, 5,529,224, 5,350,079, 5,199,597, 5,865,352, 5,014,880, 4,739,906, 4,541,550, 4,519,530, 4,389,004, and 4,124,150.
An objective of the present invention is provision of self-closing bottle cap that provides easy access to a chemical by an operator with a swab using only one hand and causing little distraction. Another objective is the described device requiring such a light touch that opening it with a swab does not move even an unrestrained small glass bottle. Another objective is quick automatic re-closure of the device to minimize evaporation of the contents into the environment. Another objective is an inexpensive mechanical design for the device using no electronics.
The invention is a self-closing bottle cap having a cover plate (1) that is easily pushed aside with a light touch from a swab stick (17). The cover plate pivots aside and upward on a hinge (6) with an oblique pivot axis (10) that provides an ideal trajectory and gravity component for the cover plate motion. The cover plate is held aside with the swab stick while dipping the swab (18) into the bottle contents. When the swab is removed, the cover plate returns by gravity and closes the bottle. This allows an operator to open the bottle easily for each dipping of the swab, using only one hand with little distraction. The bottle remains closed at all times except briefly during each dip. This minimizes evaporation of chemicals into a working environment.